Description

Wild Galapagos Tomato - Bring the Wild Home

This is one of two wild tomato species endemic to the Galapagos Islands, and the only one that is edible! This small grape sized yellow-orange tomato was found growing right along the seafront, just feet from the ocean in rocky, exposed and in almost soil-less conditions.

The fruit is intensely sweet, complex and resistant to many tomato pests. We found that the flavor of many other small-fruited tomato varieties paled by comparison. This tomato grows in clusters and will be producing faster than you can harvest.

Our customers in Texas report that the Wild Galapagos tomato is the only tomato that keeps producing throughout the heat of the summer! With a daily high of 110°F for over 40 days, the Wild Galapagos was the only tomato to keep going, giving about 2 pints of tomatoes every other day from 2 plants. On the other end of the scale, our customers from the northern tip of Idaho and southern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada say that this is the first tomato to flower and set fruit and is also the last at the end of the season!

History

Tomatoes were grown as a crop in Mexico and Peru in pre-Columbian times, but the early history of domestication is not well known (most likely in Mexico). In Europe, tomatoes were grown as ornamentals (thought to be poisonous) and became popular as a food only in the 18th century.

Uses

Raw or cooked the tomato is one of the most widely used and versatile foods from your garden. Use fresh in salads, sandwiches, and salsas. Cooked in sauces and stews. Can be stuffed, dried, puree, paste or powdered. The uses are endless!

Growing Tip

Tomatoes take about 3 - 4 months from direct seeding in the garden to start producing fruit; about 70 days from transplanting 6 - 8 week-old plants to start fruiting; and about 40-50 days from the flower opening to producing ripe fruit.

Tomatoes suffer more transplant shock than other vegetables, but you can minimize this by hardening them off for a week or two first. This means setting them outdoors in their pots in a protected place so that they get some warm sun, a little gentle wind, and even some cool (not freezing) nights. This will help them adjust to some of the stresses of real life before having their roots transplanted into the ground.

Tomatoes begin the ripening process by producing ethylene, a natural growth regulator, and releasing it. The fruit ripens from the inside out, meaning the center matures and turns red before the color reaches the outer skin. Faint white lines crossing each other at the bottom or blossom end of the fruit show that ripening has begun. Soon afterward, the blossom end starts turning pink – indicating ethylene is being produced. When the pink blush reaches the stem, the fruit is about 75% ripe. The pink color deepens to red, starting from the blossom end and working its way upward.

Harvest Tip

A tomato’s flavor increases as it ripens, due to the increased nutrients and sugars pumped into the fruit by the plant. For a home gardener, harvesting when there is just a touch of pink at the stem end or when the fruit is completely red gives the best flavor. The fruit will be fragile, won’t tolerate shipping and must be used or cooked within a few days to enjoy peak flavor.

Once the tomato is ripe, test by giving it a gentle pull or twist. If it slips easily from the vine – with little to no effort – it is ripe, juicy, and delicious!

Ripe tomatoes can be injured by cool temperatures and must be stored at room temperatures, never refrigerated to avoid chilling injury, which leaves pockmarks or pits on the skin leading to early rotting.

If you need to harvest early due to weather or the end of the season, those fruits with a pink blush at the blossom end will ripen with almost full flavor. Those with the faint white lines can still ripen but won’t have the full flavor.

10 Reviews

5

Outstanding little tomatoes!

Posted by Gary on Jan 11th 2019

New York got hit hard by late blight last year, and eventually it showed up in my garden. Most of the varieties I grew got hammered, including almost all the heirlooms. But this one managed to fend off the worst of the disease. It produces so well that even if you lose some tomatoes, there are plenty left to take their place.

5

Wild Galapagos tomato seed

Posted by Kent H French on Aug 25th 2018

This is a very hearty producer. Small, marble sized fruits with a very sweet flavor. They ripen to a golden yellow and just keep producing! This has become one of my new &#039;favorites&#039; for use in the tossed salad.

5

Wild Galapagos tomato seed

Posted by K.H. French on Apr 16th 2018

Good germination rate (85%+ indoor). Can&#039;t wait to get these in the ground and to harvest.

5

Germinating well indoors

Posted by Jessica on Apr 9th 2018

Have just bought and started these inside in a tray, and thought I&#039;d note that they sprouted right alongside my romas, at about the same rate, in 6-8 days. It&#039;s my first time growing them and I&#039;m excited to see how they do! I&#039;m hoping to grow them supported on cattle panels in our children&#039;s garden this summer.

5

Prolific

Posted by Rick on Apr 7th 2018

Really really prolific. You&#039;ll need to work hard to keep up.

5

Very wild

Posted by Lone Brun Jakobsen, INT on Jul 17th 2017

This tomato will sow itself. One fruit left behind after the first frost will be sure to start a new crop next year. One plant spreads over a very large area, and is truly wild - you have to work hard to keep up with it. It seems to grow as you watch and keeps producing tomatoes until the first frost kills the plant.

5

Grew like weeds and produce gobs of delicious yellow fruit

Posted by WI on Jul 17th 2017

I bought the Galapagos wild tomato seed from you last year and planted them this spring. They grew like weeds and produce gobs of delicious yellow fruit. This is an amazing variety that I did not happen to see when I visited the islands some years ago. It is so nice to be able to grow these. Thank you so much for offering them. We enjoy them right off the vine or in salads with a light olive oil type dressing. We have had some cold weather here already but the plants are still producing!

5

Wild tomato indeed!

Posted by heather l, CO on Jul 17th 2017

Quite prolific, and the plant itself is delightfully unruly; thrived in my sub-irrigated boxes even in the dry Colorado climate. Seeds save particularly well, also. As a bonus, if you have too many unripe ones come first frost, they make excellent green tomato relish.

5

Beautiful

Posted by Paul in CA on Jul 17th 2017

I have had this plant since summer. It has had the same height as some of my plants. It has branched off. The fruits ripen pretty fast. I have saved some seeds but have not eaten one yet. I grew this one indoor in a 3.5-inch square pot.

5

Wild Man of the Jungle!

Posted by Betty, INT on Jul 17th 2017

I bought your seed for my 2015 garden and grew 3 plants. The one that had a great deal of room went about 6 ft. in every direction even though I tried to stake it. The crop was unbelievably productive. So, I fermented some with just water &amp; salt in jars and we are now enjoying them. So, my advice is: you need a lot of space or they&#039;ll interfere with whatever is trying to grow nearby. I am in Zone 3.